Living a Resourceful, Sustainable, Creative Life Naturally. Creating fibres in harmony with nature. Sustainable, Tactile, Necessary.

Tag Archives: natures larder

Do they look dead to you ? No seriously they could be mistaken could they not for having been blown off from somewhere higher perhaps further afield and given sanctuary in the branches of these trees.

Lichen has been associated with the highlands of Scotland for those walkers and observers of nature will inform us ‘they’ – these seeming dead bundles do indeed purify the air! They are here to in abundance in the Welsh Valleys too; So valuable they are deemed to be that they are not to be plucked off the trees which they are actually attached to, living from. Are they right? I have upheld this idea this notion and accepted as a fact and felt incredibly guilty when faced recently with a deluge of blustery produce after an incredibly windy night. It was just laid there. Surely that must be ok. It surely must be dead now. My conscience be clear for I am a great environmentalist in my own way and would never wish to harm or interfere with natures life to the detriment and to be truthful I don’t think many would intentionally, except for profit but that is a different soapbox for me to write about!

So here it is. A dilemma Do I know for fact that I am ok to take and use in a very natural way, to use for dyeing fleece, that lichen which has fallen to the ground. I took it. I reasoned that it was lying on a road to be muddied and run over. Even if it did survive thereafter being blown off (still attached to the branch) as I had somewhere read it to be able to, Could it survive that trauma to, well no. However, it has lead me to ponder the truth of the lichen life! Continue reading →

Have you ever walked past a field where there are the tufts of fleece entwined baron on the fence. Almost cleansed by the rain and involuntarily ‘hanging’ out to dry! Much later, 38 kgs later and more to come I am hooked, obsessed by this ‘fluff’ It offers so much; transformation into the promise; Of fibre to clothe,keep us warm, to adorn and give way to so much creativity.

plant dyed wools

I have alway had this need to take a raw item and follow the processes to create. Wool or fibres in general are the ultimate travelling companion for this journey. However, my tentative walk began from a different lane. From the garden path. It was at these humble beginnings my connection was made. Colour. Natural colour. Colour that is not uniform and although nature can provide bold brash colours she is more renowned for her subtlety, of muted shades and very much a tonal creator.

Throughout the seasons she quietly sometimes loudly rocks our world with an orchestra of colour. Just when you feel you know her; she surprises. For me to be able to learn, tap into mother natures own larder, to explore her lessons in creativity it is a treasure trove. So to walk past that innocent ‘fluff’ I can no longer do without thinking of what it can become. Like Cinderella’s pumpkin to be transformed into magnificence by magic. Natural magic.

A sharing of ones coat

wild and woolly

to capture creativity; a misty treeline

Take home this ‘fluff’ however, small and tenderly yet once more bathe but this time add some magic of vegetable skins, flowers, seeds or pods; of bark or leaves and warm to colour it’s veins. Let nature colour your creativity and join me on this magical mystical tour!

compost or dye!

Please protect the lichens

Plants like nettles so valuable you might want to think twice about them